FORT MYERS, Fla. — Carlos Gomez was asked if he thought it would be difficult to play center field in the quirky Metrodome.

“If Torii Hunter can catch the ball there, why can’t I catch it there?” he said matter-of-factly.

I really get a kick out of this kid. Most youngsters are quiet as church mice as they tiptoe around the clubhouse in spring training. Gomez has had a bounce in his step since he arrived in Fort Myers. A key figure in the Johan Santana trade, he is convinced he is about to become an impact player with the Twins.

“Sure!” he said the other day. “They don’t have no speed like me. I know I can help this team. Especially when I hit ahead of Morneau and the catcher and the other guy.”

I mentioned that the catcher’s name is Joe Mauer. Gomez nodded. He isn’t real big on details, but he doesn’t lack confidence.

“They will all have more RBIs,” he insisted.

Don’t get the wrong idea. There’s a difference between being cocky and being arrogant. Gomez, from the Dominican Republic, is an enthusiastic kid who is quite sure of himself. He’s very likable.

“Cutty-er!” he said out of nowhere.

Oh, Michael Cuddyer, the other guy who will get more RBIs with Gomez hitting leadoff. Got it.

“My dad was fast,” Gomez said. “When I was a kid and I worked out with my older friends, they all worked out so hard for their running. I do nothing. They say, ‘Why are you so fast when you don’t do nothing?’ I tell them that my dad was fast.”

His dad, by the way, didn’t play professional baseball. He was just, well, fast.

Here’s the deal: Gomez, 22, is 6 feet 4 and can fly. He has a big-league arm in center field. He also has what some consider an overly aggressive swing. A vicious swing usually means a lot of strikeouts. And that’s not what the Twins want from their leadoff man. And they see Gomez as a leadoff man.

“He’s a very confident kid,” noted Paul Molitor.

We noticed.

“He has a big-league presence. The obvious things are there: speed, throwing, power. His challenge is going to be tightening the holes as a hitter by being a little bit more in control. He’s still a little bit rough around the edges.”

Molitor, like everyone else, is impressed with Gomez’s speed.

“He has such a long stride — explosive,” he said. “He’s got a body on him.”

Manager Ron Gardenhire let Gomez bat five times against the Yankees on Wednesday. Clearly he is taking a very, very close look. I’m sure the Twins would like Gomez to make the team because it would be nice to have something to show for Santana this season.

“He’s going to have to learn to understand what his job is,” Rod Carew said. “He can’t try to hit every ball over the fence. That won’t help the ballclub. You want him to be aggressive at the plate, but he has to tone it down a little.

“If you swing as hard as you can every time, and don’t make contact, you aren’t helping anyone. If he can control those swings, he’ll be OK.”

Carew and Molitor, hall of famers who work as instructors in camp each spring, agree: Gomez needs to learn patience and bat control.

It may not surprise you to learn that Gomez says, no problem.

“That’s what I’m working on,” Gomez said. “I know that they say I strike out a lot. But I can do the job. I can bunt when I get a chance. When I played with the Mets last year, I hit eighth. With the pitcher behind me, I never got asked to bunt. They want to see me swing. But when I get a chance, I can do it.”

Don’t think he feels any pressure about being traded for Santana, either. He laughs when it’s mentioned.

“It was a big surprise,” he said. “Everybody back home was saying, ‘Oh, Carlos is going for Santana.’ I was like ‘yes!’ For two weeks I had been after them. Come on, do something! I want them to trade me.”

Before spring training is over, Denard Span may have something to say about who opens in center field. Span, at one point the heir apparent to Hunter, isn’t going to go down quietly.

“I’ll just do my job,” Gomez said. “We’ll see what happens. I’m excited and happy. I’ll try to show the manager and coaches what I can do and be a good leadoff hitter.”

And maybe someday they’ll be saying that Johan Santana was the man traded for Carlos Gomez, instead of the other way around.

“Sure, maybe someday,” Gomez said with a laugh.

Tom Powers can be reached at tpowers@pioneerpress.com.

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